Stone was born as Douglas Jackson Brooks on June 19, 1956 in Marietta, Georgia.

His mother, who was also a country music singer, taught him how to play guitar when he was five. When he was seven years old, his mother placed him onstage to open for Loretta Lynn.

He found additional work singing as a teenager: first at local skating rinks, and then at local bars, and later as one member of a short-lived trio; in addition, he and his father worked as mechanics to make ends meet.

In 2005, he was sentenced to six months in jail for civil and criminal contempt for failing to release his financial records and failing to pay alimony and child support.

He has appeared in films When the Storm God Rides and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.